How to Save Money in an Expensive City

posted by Chris Valentine

If you are living in one of the World’s expensive cities then just paying rent and utilities alone can suck up a lot of your monthly income, even though salaries in expensive cities are often adjusted to meet cost of living, these salaries rarely provide enough for you to have any luxuries at all. It can be a viscous circle, often there are more and better jobs available in thriving cities and you may need to live there if you want your career to grow, at the same time, the cost of living alone can be make your income disappear before you know it and even though you have more opportunities, you’ll have less money to do anything other than work. Fear not however as there are some ways that you can work harder to save some cash, here are some tips on doing so.

Commuting

Invariably, living further out from the center of a large city will be a lot cheaper even once you include the cost of your daily commute to your place of work. There are some ways in which you can bring down this cost further, if you take public transport such as trains and busses then look into getting annual passes, for an initial outlay, these can often bring down your costs significantly. If you drive to work then look towards options such as ride-sharing to save you money, there are some great apps out there that can connect you with other people who take the same route as you, you all jump in the car together and split the cost, a great way to save money and meet new people.

Couponing

Gone are the days where you had to cut coupons for discounts out of the back of a magazine, these days couponing is much bigger business and it provide you with lots of ways to save cash and enjoy yourself without splashing out. Websites such as Groupon work with several industries to bring you great discounts and coupons off things like your weekly shop, days out, events and great products. Simply sign up, download the coupons and start saving money today.

Free Events

One benefit of living in a large city is that there are often plenty of free events taking place from live music to museum exhibitions, just because you’re not flush with money doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t enjoy yourself. Local newspapers, magazines and websites can help you to stay in touch with what’s happening near you and they will also inform you about the freebies taking place in your city, what better way to have fun than when you don’t need to spend any money.

Don’t Eat Out

Planning your food for your days at work will save you lots of money, it can be very easy to head to the nearest cafe or restaurant for your lunch but you will be paying a lot of money for something that you could’ve made at home for a fraction of the cost. Try to plan your meals a week ahead, pick up what you need from the supermarket and prepare your meals the night before, you will soon see your spends come down if you take your own food with you to work.